Siege of Redding
The Siege of Redding, also known as the Fall of Redding in the New California Republic, was a major battle during the early stages of the NCR-Brotherhood War where the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel laid siege to and briefly occupied the city of Redding in the northern parts of New California. While not a major military target, Redding held the largest gold reserves in the NCR and the Brotherhood saught to capture and/or destroy them to cripple the NCR economically and force them to surrender once the war became economically unsustainable for them. The Brotherhood attacked the city on June 18th, 2258 and occupied it for less than a month before the New California Republic Defense Force launched a counter-offensive and the Brotherhood forces withdrew leaving the city in ruins and the NCR economy in shambles. Background Following the end of the NCR-Enclave War in 2253 with the defeat of the Enclave and the withdraw of their forces from New California, the New California Republic and Brotherhood of Steel found themselves at odds over what to do with the large supplies of technology lying around. The NCR wanted to acquire half the Enclave stockpiles for their military and the Brotherhood the over half, but the latter wanted all of the weapons. Negotiations were carried out, but they soon collapsed and by 2258l, the Mojave Brotherhood began invading the NCR from the north taking them by surprise. Redding was soon within the Brotherhood's eyesights and they saught to capture the city to economically cripple the NCR and make the war impossible to finance. To do this, a force of 4,000 men were sent to capture the city lead by John Cromwell, then Head Paladin of the Mojave Brotherhood Army. Brotherhood Bombings The siege began when the Brotherhood lined up their artillery pieces and began firing on the northern parts of Redding. The artillery targeted the more urban and industrial areas of the city which would clear the way for combat vehicles and tanks to make it through and support Brotherhood forces. The NCR defenders sustained hundreds of casualties during the initial bombardments, but they remained determined to defend the city at all costs. NCR Brigader General Martin Rollin soon ordered the city's artillery to fire back and they did, but not before two pieces were destroyed by Brotherhood artillery and mortars. The bombing lasted three days and afterwards, much of Redding was ruined and the Brotherhood forces began their main advance. Initial Urban Battles Brotherhood light infantry supported by Power Armor units marched up into the ruins of northern Redding after the three day bombardment. There, they were ambushed by surviving NCR troopers and local residents who took up arms to defend the city. The defenders were only able to kill limited numbers of Brotherhood forces before being overrun and forced to retreat deeper into the city. By June 22nd, the north sector had fallen and Brotherhood tanks began pulling in while NCR armored forces struggled to catch up with many burying their tanks amid the ruined buildings to act as makeshift anti-tank guns and in some cases, mobile communication centers. The NCR forces had calls for reinforcements heard, but they would have to hold out until their arrival and the Brotherhood's other campaigns would slow them down during their travel to Redding. The Brotherhood deployed their tanks into the streets, but they were being ambushed by NCR troopers fighting at close quarters. The M60 Patton tanks were being boarded by NCR troopers and at least three were captured, but the rest remained in Brotherhood hands and their armor and power armor units punched through the defenses, until NCR tanks ambushed them and bogged them down. Brotherhood tanks were soon engaged in a stalemate with their NCR counterparts and fought desperatey to break the stalemate while the Brotherhood Power Armor units coninuted marching forward against the NCR troopers. Various Paladins were killed by 1st Recon Snipers and NCR soldiers armed with the Type 67 Anti-Power Armor Rifle and mutiple light infantrymen were killed and wounded, at least 200 according to Brotherhood records, but the NCR defenders could only slow down the advance. By the start of July, over half of the city had fallen to the Brotherhood and the NCR was faced with a difficult question on whether or not to make a stand or break out and abandon the city. NCR Evacuation NCR reinforcements were still on their way to Redding, but the surviving defenders debated on whether or not they should stay or break out. Those arguing for the latter believed that the city was already lost and they should preserve their numbers and regroup with the reinforcements to retake the city while those arguing to stay and fight cited that the Brotherhood would possibly stage a strong defensive campaign to keep the city in their hands and repel the NCR counter-attack. As the commanders were debating the matter, the Brotherhood launched an assault into Redding's central square and captured the area within the span of three hours and spent another five defending it from NCR troopers attempting to retake it. By July 3rd, the NCR defenders had lost a third of their manpower and the commanders chose to break out and flee down south to regroup with the oncoming reinforcements from the Second Mechanized Division and the Fourth Infantry Regiment. The evacuation began on July 7th and the wounded and sick were carried out first while the remaining defenders established defensive lines in the south. On July 8th, a Brotherhood assault into the south was repelled and they were pushed back to the town square. From July 9th to 12th, the Brotherhood Paladins and tanks launched a second offensive, but they were once again pushed back and they were even forced to temporarily withdraw from the town square, but kept it within the range of mortars to keep the area from being retaken by the NCR resulting in another stalemate. By July 14th, the reinforcements had arrived and NCR bombers and sentry bots came in and began to attack the Brotherhood forces, but a new problem was emerging with Brotherhood forces managing to take areas surrounding Redding and the city was almost encircled by the time reports came in that NCR roads were being attacked as reinforcements were landing. Knowing this, the reinforcements and remaining defenders were forced to stage a breakout and fight against the encirclement. The fight went on for four days and was very bloody, but the NCR forces broke out and evacuated Redding leaving it in the hands of the Brotherhood, but only for a brief period of time. NCR Counter-Offensive After the NCR forces evacuated Redding, they regrouped in the nearby town of Anderson using Interstate 5 where they could amass the needed forces to push back the Brotherhood and retake Redding. During this time, the Brotherhood forces began plundering the city while they still occupied it and the gold reserves were soon found and were being stolen and plundered at an alarming rate. Those resisting were either shot or thrown into the city's prisons as their home was ransacked. The mines were found on July 15th, but NCR Bombers kept bombing Redding and so the Brotherhood chose to detonante the mines destroying much of the NCR's gold reserves believing that they could bankrupt the republic and force it to surrender, but this wouldn't happen. That same day, the NCR launched an attack on the city, but they were bogged down in the southern parts and the outlying areas were a constant stalemate. The fighting continued until the Brotherhood withdrew on July 20th, but the battle ended in a victory for the Brotherhood as the NCR wouldn't retake the city until three days after the battle ended. Aftermath and Impact The Siege of Redding went down as a disaster for the New California Republic as the city was left in ruins and their forces struggled to defend and retake the city. The siege was labeled the worst disaster in the NCR and the economy suffered greatly as the gold reserves were plundered and destroyed resulting in the NCR suffering a major economic downturn and recession and the currency was greatly devalued for decades to come. The Brotherhood would emerge victorious and they would continue what they called "the Spirit of Redding" in the ensuing Hidden Valley Offensive where they repeated their success in the Hidden Valley region, but the disasterous outcome of Redding resulted in many NCR citizens enlisted in the NCR Army seeking better jobs which drove up the NCR's manpower and would lead to the Brotherhood not being able to catch up in the coming years. Two decades after the battle in 2278, Redding was rebuilt and gold mining continued and a war memorial with the names of fallen NCR troops and civilains who fought during the siege was erected in the town's central regions. Category:Battles Category:Events